REN wrote:If you expose a amoeba protozoan to an antibiotic would it kill it? I'm having a hard time fuguring this out. R

Ren, that really depends on the antibiotic... Look at the type of antibiotic, the mode of action and look at the structure of your amoeba.. Some antibiotics like penicillin and its derivatives, for example, target cell wall synthesis. Does your amoeba synthesize CW? Or some targets DNA and RNA synthesis but it has to penetrate the CM for it to work. There are very complex interactions of antibiotics and organisms and still a lot more if you are going to use those antibiotics to treat infected people. You still have to consider toxicity, accumulation of antibiotic in area of infection, patient sensitivity, etc...

Zin wrote:Hint: If you take an antibiotic, does it kill your bodies cells too?A: Nope.Think about what kills the bacteria.Would that affect a protozoan?

Antibiotic means substance that inhibits or kills microorganisms (even though lately this term is primarily used to describe anti-bacterial agents). Antibiotics specific to ameba are Amebicides, while those that kill bacteria are Bacteriocides. Some antibiotics like Metronidazole are both...